Illinois freshmen Julian Pearl and Caleb Griffin may not see playing time in 2018, but each player has had an eye on the Illini from a young age.
Pearl has watched the Illini over the years from nearby Danville, Illinois, and the 6-foot-6 defensive line convert is determined to be a part of the gr...

Ahead of Lovie Smith’s third year, and with the arrival of his second recruiting class, Illinois football is set to be, statistically, the youngest team in the nation in 2018.
Underclassmen make up 76.5 percent of the Illini roster and the program only has nine seniors.
Similar to last season, ...

On a Thursday night in the fall of 2017, linebacker Justice Williams got his shot.
“It’s going down,” Williams would tell former Illini quarterback Jeff George. “If I move to receiver, it’s going down.”
Williams lined up with Jaylen Dunlap, a former teammate who was, at the time, one o...

One-on-ones between offensive and defensive lines are a staple of any football practice, pitting the strong against the strong in battles of brute strength and refined technique.
First-year Illinois defensive line coach Austin Clark and offensive line coach Luke Butkus each relished the chance to s...

On a less-than-stellar day for the quarterbacks, the Illini secondary owned Wednesday’s practice.
It seemed as if virtually every defensive back who got reps made a good read to break up a pass or several. In light of newly added youth and depth, in addition to talented returners Bennett Williams and ...

At this time last week, new Illini quarterback AJ Bush had not thrown a single ball to an Illinois receiver.
Nonetheless, on only the fifth day of Illinois football training camp, Bush trots over to sophomore wide receiver Carmoni Green to address a dropped ball.
“Oh boy, that’s a tough one,” B...

The horse that stood south of the Campus Recreation fields was the same color as the football flying through the air. Wagging its tail, the animal watched along with what could be estimated as a couple hundred fans as the Illini kicked off day two of their training camp.
It was 9 a.m. and new offen...

By 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, a once-bustling crowd of Big Ten coaches, players and media had steadily dissipated into a scattered group of straggling reporters and rather tired-looking players and coaches.
Meanwhile, Illinois offensive lineman Nick Allegretti casually weaved tales about h...

Traditionally, the Big Ten is known for its hard-hitting, ground-and-pound style of play. With many programs across the country adopting an up-tempo, spread offense in the new era of mobile quarterbacks, the Big Ten could become an outlier.
Penn State led the Big Ten conference with 290.2 passing...

The 47th Big Ten Media Day kicked off in Chicago this Monday and Tuesday with Illinois football head coach Lovie Smith bringing along players Nick Allegretti, Mike Dudek and Jamal Milan.
The Illini have plenty of question marks surrounding their young team as training camp is set to begin in early...

Illinois football head coach Lovie Smith spoke of developing talent and making competitive strides at the Big Ten conference’s annual media days event Tuesday.
In his first two years with the program, Smith’s Illini are 5-19 and have only two Big Ten wins. He believes that’s a symptom of youth,...

The Fighting Illini Athletics program welcomed back the 2007 Illini football team over the weekend to celebrate the program's trip to the 2008 Rose Bowl.
Former head coach Ron Zook turned consecutive two-win seasons in 2005 and 2006 into a 9-4 campaign that saw wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Wisconsin...